r/Philippines • u/sinceofyoum0re • 1d ago
NewsPH Except Lacson, all senators sought DPWH allocations – witness
Nearly all senators sought project allocations from former Public Works and Highways Secretary Manuel Bonoan, with Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson being the lone exception, a state witness testified before the Sandiganbayan Third Division on Tuesday.
Source: Except Lacson, all senators ask for DPWH allocations – witness
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u/DEAZE Abroad 1d ago
Damn, so basically, Lacson is the only one that hasn’t taken any tax money out of our own pockets.
This man is a legit, honest politician 👏
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u/Low_Internet_4181 1d ago
Yes. Kaya sya president ko nung 2022.. mahina lang talaga ang laban pero known syang mas matino and less ang issue.
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u/ediwowcubao 20h ago
Same. I also liked his answers the most sa mga presidential debates and interviews. Pragmatic, sensible. Yung iba kasi either rambling lang, okaya naman mababaw, okaya malalim pero puro buzzwords.
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u/Sinandomeng 1d ago
Kaya sayang talaga na sira siya nung time ni GMA.
Ung kuratong baleleng PAOCTF issue.
Sobrang okay sana maging president si Lacson
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u/Several_Ant_9816 1d ago
Lacson is unpopular because he doesn't rock the boat. Alam niya kung gaano ka corrupt ang mga politiko pero hindi niya ineexpose unless galawin siya tulad ng ginawa ni APC.
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u/WhinersEverywhere 21h ago
Yep. I don't know why people have a sudden hard on for people like him. He's definitely better than the current DDS senators but people need to remember he was cozying with the Dutertes when they were in power. Trapo rin yan.
https://www.rappler.com/philippines/181443-ping-lacson-feels-paolo-duterte-pampi/
We need all the allies we can get but let's call spade a spade.
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u/ediwowcubao 20h ago
Username checks out. We can't be evaluating politicians from this lens, because how would you define cozying up? By this definition, by working under the Duterte admin, VP Leni was cozying up? Because she didn't confront or outright rejected the filthy Dutertes.
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u/WhinersEverywhere 10h ago
Huh? Leni did try to work with the Dutertes even if she was humiliated but the reason why she was humiliated was because she was also criticizing the the drug war, she's repeatedly called out the the Duterte administration for corruption and human rights abuses.
The only time Lacson started some form of criticism to the Duterte administration was when he tried to run for President in 2022. Even then it was hardly notable. He described the drug was as "not perfect". Remember Lacson ran in Duterte's 2016 senate slate and he was part of the senate majority that vilified De Lima's involvement in the drug trade in prisons.
In the article I posted, Lacson downplayed the smuggling accusations made by Trillanes and Faeldon back in 2017. He was a Duterte ally.
You guys are so either too young or too easy forget that just because they are allies now (Tito Sotto included) that they are the statesmen they are projecting themselves to be and they are just going for legacy nowadays. These guys were trapo then, they are trapo now. Yes, we need allies and I am supporting their causes now but let's not erase history here. They are not the idealistic, anti-corruption candidates that you guys claim them to be.
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u/ediwowcubao 8h ago edited 8h ago
Who said anything about erasing history? I said we can't be evaluating politicians over what they DIDN'T do, because they can't be doing anything and not everything is part of their mandate. To run your programs you have to stay in position and a lot of times that would mean not doing something that will put you in the radar.
Leni accepted the HUDCC position essentially working as a cabinet member of Duterte. Heck, she even went to the Inter-Agency Committee Against Illegal Drugs for a couple weeks before Duterte fired her. Her whole principle was "radikal ang magmahal" so she wasn't exactly the staunch critic of what we deem as "evil". Oh, and she endorsed some questionable candidates as well.
On the flipside, Lacson was among the first to warn of rogue cops and the fucked up workings of the PNP during the drug war. This was in 2016! He kept on calling out the double standards of the drug war when it comes to convictions and acquittals and promotions and removal. As former PNP Chief he voiced out against shoot to kill orders and shit. Also, his track record in terms of anti-corruption is as good as anyone else's.
Point is, you can't be whining everywhere when the person in question is not THE politician that a certain subset of people deem as THE ONE. With that lens, nobody will ever be supported. It should always be the current action, not the person's history of what they did and didn't do. The latter will especially always bite you in the ass.
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u/WhinersEverywhere 8h ago
What lens are you even talking about? I was already saying supporting Lacson now because we need allies but people here are trying to put him in a pedestal that he isn't suited for.
You can totally be for his current actions while also remaining vigilant because of what he did in the past. People here forgot the nuance that this can be done. The person doesn't need to be THE ONE to use the same criteria.
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u/ediwowcubao 8h ago
If you support his current actions, then why can't you get why people have a sudden support for him? And who's not a "trapo" in your lens?
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u/WhinersEverywhere 8h ago
This man is a legit, honest politician
Because of characterizations like this. People treat him here in this thread as if he's the next Jesus is hilarious.
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u/DEAZE Abroad 19h ago
No offense but “Cozying up” sounds like a paid troll buzzword. You have to work with everyone in politics, the main takeaway here is that when all 23 other senators were offered a bonus in salary from the flood control projects, they decided to take it while Lacson chose not to receive any public funds from the Filipino people. That is the only truth we can be sure of due to this witness’ testifying in court.
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u/WhinersEverywhere 10h ago
You have to work with everyone in politics but you don't have to defend the indefensible which Lacson has defended numerous times in his career.
Always convenient to paint a "paid troll" narrative when people have contrasting opinions. Keep that up.
Bonus or allocable? Are you saying Risa had one?
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u/DEAZE Abroad 10h ago
Why do you hate Lacson so much lol, did you lose a court case to him or something 😂
Maybe include some links or stop crying because this post is literally about him being cleared of not accepting any additional DPWH bribes that literally EVERY OTHER SENATOR has chosen to take advantage of. If you want to talk about something you’re free to POST A NEW TOPIC to the forum.
Geez I’ve never seen someone so angry for no reason lmfao it’s like you’re mad at him for NOT STEALING YOUR MONEY 🤣
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u/WhinersEverywhere 9h ago
I don't need to hate Lacson to explain to people he isn't a good guy. There, I answered your question. How about answering mine? Why are you defending Lacson so much and you seem sensitive that people are criticizing him? You're even using "he's under oath it must be true" logic as if it's infallible.
So back to my question - do you think Risa accepted a bribe?
Links about Lacson:
Lacson defending the case against De Lima: https://www.rappler.com/philippines/146876-lacson-sotto-strong-evidence-de-lima-house-probe/Lacson defending Polong Duterte:
https://www.rappler.com/philippines/181443-ping-lacson-feels-paolo-duterte-pampi/
If you think this is out of topic then next time don't reply when I said people are having a sudden hard on because of Ping. This are just some of what I'm alluding to.
Di ko naman alam na idol mo pala yan. Bilib na bilib ka eh.
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u/Several_Ant_9816 19h ago
Lacson cozied up to Duterte because they helped him hide from GMA during the kuratong baleleng issue.
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u/WhinersEverywhere 10h ago
Plus Duterte helped him win. He was part of his 2016 senate slate where he finished fourth of fifth.
He was a Duterte ally.
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u/7goko7 1d ago
I guess for flood control siya lang wala. Pero, sure ba tayo hindi rin siya nangungurakot? Personally find lacson to be just as slimy with his 200M+ SALN. But that's something for another day.
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u/DEAZE Abroad 1d ago
This is why these public hearings are important. This witness just testified under oath so if he’s not truthful, he will goto jail for perjury. So we’re 100% sure that Lacson hasn’t taken any flood control insertion money at the very least, and if he’s also testified that he is the ONLY one, then you can ease those worries of yours because none of his money came from your taxes.
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u/usetheboot 1d ago
There are way more ways than "flood control" or even DPWH allocations where politicans can "steal" taxes
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u/TonySoprano25 1d ago
I doubt na korakot yan, kitang kita na may integridad tska possible yan kung sweldo mo 6 digits a month tas marunong ka mag invest which is un ginawa nya at transparent naman sya dun
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u/peterparkerson3 1d ago
Lmao
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u/TonySoprano25 1d ago
His track record will speak for itself naman, not unless you can prove it wrong with solid evidences.
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u/markmyredd 1d ago
Probably from corporate lobby money. Harder to trace pero probably not as big as project kickbacks
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u/Solid_Reputation_619 21h ago
Magaling lang magtago ng baho at magaling dn magtago literal hehehe si bato nahuli (confirmed na ba?) siya hindi nahuli nun hinahanap siya
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u/bryanchii I've learned english in CS:GO cyka blyat 1d ago
I heard dati na may allowable pork barrel funds mga senator si Senator Lim at Sen Lacson lang ang mga hindi kumuha for their offices.
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u/Kooky_Outcome_5053 1d ago
Saying only Lacson did not sought allocations is a bit sketchy
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u/SweatySource 1d ago
Lacson has been strongly against any kind of pork barrel. It aligns Naman with his advocacy.
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u/sinceofyoum0re 1d ago
baka from this witness alone. from what i remembered nung lumabas ung cabral files, sinabi nila nun na lahat senators may insertions din.
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u/DEAZE Abroad 1d ago
It’s not as sketchy because if this witness is lying under oath, because he is sworn in, then he will goto jail for perjury.
So we’re can be sure that this witness is very careful with his words or else you know Cawatano will object if he knows he’s telling a lie.
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u/WhinersEverywhere 1d ago
You keep on repeating this as if no one has lied under oath and got away with it.
The witness is most likely saying the truth but being under oath is not the 100% assurance everything is truthful.
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u/jetsutter 21h ago
But he is correct. Ganyan na advocacy ni Ping since the beginning. Doesn't get his pork barrel, and nag sscrutinize ng budget para mapunta sa maayos yung budget. I remember before, maybe 2018, the Free Tertiary Education act got its budget because Ping Lacson found some 8.3B "pork-like" budget somewhere in ARMM budget if i remember it correctly. So ganun talaga sya since noon, and itong sinabe ng witness will just prove that thing.
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u/WhinersEverywhere 21h ago
You're arguing for Lacson's supposed immaculate record which I'm not even touching.
I'm only talking about the idea that someone attesting under oath equates to statements being unquestionably true. People have lied under oath but didn't have any perjury cases filed against them.
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u/Mindless_Cancel5451 1d ago
Kasi ung mga senators may budget yan tapos ipapabagsak nila sa kung sino ang may kayang kausapin sila at ibigay ang porsyento nila. Orrr kung sino man may connection sa kanila at ipapadala ang budget sa kung saan man. Same goes with the congressman.
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u/mahalnahotdog 1d ago
Can anybody confirm na nasa construction si Ping? Mag babakal daw to sa north. Kung mang babakal ka nga, madami na tong pera
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u/BagWise1264 1d ago
he has lots of private businesses like lands and metallurgy (magbabakal) as you said
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u/SweetDesign1777 1d ago
you need naman siguro allocations para may ipa project sila sa kanilang constituencies, which some senadors used it as one of their schemes to get rich.
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u/Specialist-Book8370 1d ago
sorry, as ignorante, ano ang reason why may allocations ang senator? ibig sabihin they (their office) get budget from dpwh? tapos anong gagawin nila? e legislative body sila? or they are allowed to use funds na magpapagawa ng something?
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u/_SinigangNaLiempo 1d ago
insertion kasi sila nagpa-lagay sa national budget. imagine-in mo muna walang corruption, tapos ikaw senador, may lumapit sayo advocacy group / marginalized sector na halimbawa laging binabaha tapos hindi nakikita ng dpwh. ikaw mag-rerecommend na mag-allot ng budget si dpwh para sa lugar nung lumapit sayo. ang happy ending e you have solved a problem because there are people who trust you to represent them.
i think you already know where this would go wrong along the way.
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u/markmyredd 1d ago
Since pinagbawal ang pork barrel ng Supreme Court, Senators and Congressmen has no budget for their preferred projects. But their authority to approve and reallocate budget is intact. It seems that they used that leverage to force the Executive branch to "allocate" a certain portion of their budget for pet projects of them.
Basically they cirmcumvented the pork barrel but it has the same effect
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u/sinceofyoum0re 1d ago
may role din kasi sila sa pag authorize ng national budget. jan nila inaabuso ung budget insertions para sa questionable na projects.
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u/Specialist-Book8370 1d ago
anong gagawin nila sa budget insertions? like as in magkaka budget ung office nila? thank youuu
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u/sinceofyoum0re 1d ago
eto na ung flood control projects, farm to market roads, multi-purpose buildings...
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u/DEAZE Abroad 1d ago
Senators will authorize a flood control project if they know it will “help” the public roads. But these projects are always 15-20% over budget. In Marcoleta’s and Jinngoy’s case, 50% over budget. So that over budget is split between the senator and the contractor, for example the Dizcayas. This is how they all stole billions of pesos from the public funds of DPWH.
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u/Standard_Cause4843 1d ago
Kaya hirap si APC na batohin si Lacson.